Cow milk for a healthy diet? Despite the skepticism about dairy products, many nutritionists argue cow milk is one of the best items for a healthy diet. For years, the nutritious white liquid has been promoted and recommended, but in recent years, it took a dive in popularity. Surprisingly, the science of Ayurveda has its own take on the requirements of a healthy lifestyle.
Modern experts in Ayurveda explain that the decline in milk consumption has more to do with the commercialization process than any dislike of the drink. The secret of this balanced elixir lies in the way it is prepared, stored, and consumed, and homogenization only serves to make it easier to pack, store and retail.
Therefore, this process is a utility for organizations that want to profit from the sale of milk. The catch here is that homogenized milk has a real image problem, and wholesome cow milk became grouped into that opinion. For starters, the difference here is an Ayurveda healthy lifestyle recommends raw unpasteurized cow milk. Hence, this liquid should not be manipulated.
Cow Milk: Friend or Foe?
Milk consumption has decreased by 20% in the last decade, but experts agree that milk contains key elements for a healthy diet. It’s loaded with calcium, protein, and vitamins, and calcium is an essential component of bones. Additionally, other nutrients like B2, B6, and B12 play an essential role in the body’s metabolic processes and growth. Our bodies need vitamins to produce red blood cells, breathe, produce antibodies, and keep skin, nails, and hair healthy. However, the real key here is cow milk isn’t simply a traditional advertised drink, but referred to as ‘white fuel’.
According to Ayurveda, our internal and external environment is governed by three basic energy or doshas known as Vata (air), Pitta (fire) and Kapha (earth). Ayurvedic tradition says, of all the items that prolong life natural cow milk is the best.
• It contains 87% water and 13% solid components, including proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins, and it’s the closest in similarity to human breastmilk. Just one liter of cow’s milk contains about 1,200 milligrams of calcium
• Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption, preserves bone, and is an essential nutrient that provides protection against macular degeneration, fibromyalgia, gingivitis, and many other diseases. Yet most adults do not reach their recommended daily intake of 200 to 400 IU.
• In addition to calcium, it adds magnesium and potassium, which can be good for preventing cardiovascular risk
• Furthermore, other than protecting the gastrointestinal tract against pathogens, toxins, and inflammation, cow milk contributes to good health by regulating metabolic processes of energy production, especially the metabolism of glucose and insulin, thereby helping regulate diabetes.
Ayurvedic experts consider cow’s milk a perfect liquid to refresh, nourish and strengthen the body and mind. In India, the cow has always been the centerpiece of agriculture, and most farming activities have been devoid of the typical Western manipulation. So how did milk get a bad rap? Mostly due to lactose intolerance, but this has been widely blown out of proportion, and there’s an easy solution. If it’s difficult to digest, simply heat the liquid to a boiling point, and then allow to cool and add a pinch of brown sugar, honey or cinnamon.
Health – Promoting Properties of an Ayurvedic Healthy Lifestyle
The therapeutic properties of food are closely related to their potency. These effects influence the nutrition and positive transformation of the body’s tissues. Sweet foods soothe our three basic energies or doshas, called Vata, pitta, and Kapha. Each energy circulates in the body and addresses specific mental and physical symptoms in different proportions.
In general, cow’s milk increases Kapha, while decreasing Vata and pitta. Its consumption helps regulate Vata imbalances except for indigestion; this property is important if we consider that most diseases are caused by an imbalance of Vata. It also helps regulate the pitta and promotes a healthy lifestyle.
Another ancient Indian Ayurveda medicine is Ghee, often referred to as the elixir of life. Used heavily in Indian cuisine, ghee is nothing more than pure butterfat or butter and has a number of health-promoting properties. Ghee is intended to stimulate the digestive forces, nourish the seven body tissues – plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow, nervous and reproductive systems – and keep in balance the three vital energies, Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
In Ayurvedic medicine, Ghee acts as a carrier substance, permeating membranes to bind environmental free radicals and body toxins and help purify the body. Ghee can be applied externally and internally and is one of the most versatile, but also the oldest home remedies – used for more than 5,000 years in Ayurvedic medicine.
Just a few benefits of Ghee:
• Ghee solves constipation and the fat is better for a healthy diet
• Rub it into the nasal membranes and it helps clean and protects against colds
• Together with warm milk, it ensures a good night’s sleep
• It’s a balm for chapped and irritated skin
• Ghee strengthens the immune system
Self-made ghee is common in an Ayurveda lifestyle, especially for a healthy diet. Sweet unsalted butter is simmered in a large pan for 30 to 40 minutes on low flame. This method evaporates the water content and the largest part of the protein is precipitated from the fat. The ghee is ready as soon as the liquid has become golden yellow that’s clear and transparent. The resulting liquid is filtered from the pure fat on the bottom of the pan.
One of the reasons Ghee is in the top five food choices of Indian cuisine, and considered a must-have for a healthy diet is because it’s easily digestible and ghee is easily and gently absorbed by the intestine, but more importantly, it has a balancing effect on the vata, pitta and kapha, a key basic requirement for a healthy lifestyle.
A fact that is not debatable – cow milk packs a punch, delivering a load of nutritional goodness. There are many people for it, and many against drinking milk, but in its natural state, it’s a complete food, and unlike any other liquid, a pure source of wellness for a healthy diet, and overall healthy lifestyle.
